Armenian patriarch in Turkey, Mesrob II, dies

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey's state-run news agency says Patriarch Mesrob II, the leader of the Armenian Christians in Turkey, has died. He was 62.

Anadolu Agency said Mesrob Mutafyan, the 84th Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, died Friday at Istanbul's Armenian Surp Pirgic hospital where he was being cared for. He had been incapacitated since 2008 with an early onset of dementia.

Mesrob was elected Patriarch in 1998, replacing the late Karekin II. In 2008, Archbishop Aram Atesyan was appointed to fulfill Mesrob's duties as the acting patriarch.

Last year, the Turkish government intervened to halt elections at the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey, on grounds "that the necessary conditions for the electoral process had not been met" and that Mesrob was still alive.

Funeral details were not immediately available.